64th Congress \ 
1st Session / 



SENATE 



/ Document 
\ No. 498 



AN ADDRESS 



DELIVERED 



AT THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL EDU- 
CATION ASSOCIATION HELD IN MADISON SQUARE 
GARDEN, NEW YORK CITY, ON JULY 6, 1916 



BY 



HON. WILLIAM G. McADOO 

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY 




PRESENTED BY MR FLETCHER 
July li, 1916. — Ordered to be printed 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1916 



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Digitizebl b^'thfe Internet Archive 
in ^8?0^itf?!!inding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/someinternationaOOmcad 



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SOME INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



ADDRESS BY HON. WILLIAM G. McADOO 

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 



It gives me peculiar pleasure to accept the invitation with which 
you have so generously honored me, because it offers me the oppor- 
tunity of bringing to your attention some important questions 
relating to public education which have been forcibly impressed 
upon me as a result of my recent visit to South America. 

IDEAL PAN AMERICANISM. 

At the great international conference recently held in Buenos Aires, 
in which all the Republics of the Western Hemisphere, except 
Mexico, were represented, there was a common impulse to realize the 
inspiring ideal of that beneficent Pan Americanism which for almost 
a century, has been the dream of the foremost statesmen of the 
American Continents. Men of intellectual force and commanding 
character exchanged ideas and discussed the means of achieving the 
great purpose in view. It was recognized that public education 
directed along right lines would bo a potential influence in creating 
that better understanding through which "Americans of both con- 
tinents may be drawn together in bonds of honorable partnership 
and mutual advantage," and realize the more securely and effectively 
those common ideals of individual liberty, national independence, 
and self-government which are the most vital features of our western 
civilization. 

What is Pan Americanism ? 

President Wilson, in his message to the Congress, December, 1915, 
admirably defined it when he said : 

That the States of America are not hostile rivals but cooperating friends, and that 
their growing sense of community of interest, alike in matters political and in matters 
economic, is likely to give them a new significance as factors in international affairs 
and in the political history of the world. It presents them as in a very deep and 
true sense a unit in world affairs, spiritual partners, standing together because thinking 
together, quick with common sympathies and common ideals. Separated they are 
subject to all the cross currents of the confused politics of a world of hostile rivalries; 
united in spirit and purpose they can not be disappointed of their peaceful destiny. 

This is Pan Americanism. It has none of the spirit of empire in it. It is the em- 
bodiment, the effectual embodiment, of the spirit of law and independence and 
liberty and mutual service. 

What may be called the spiritual ideal of Pan Americanism has 
been very highly developed and in a large measure actually realized 
during the past two years — particularly since the European war has 
forced ui3on the peoples of the three Americas a larger contact with 

3 



4 ' SOME INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

each other through the circumstances of jiolitical and economic 
necessity. This larger intercourse is a most happy augury for the 
future because it means that the spiritual ideal of ran Americanism 
will be fortified immeasurably by the ties of mutual interest and 
reciprocally beneficial trade relations, which, as all history has shown, 
are the surest guaranties of enduring friendship between nations. 
But we can not realize these great things unless we understand each 
other and unless we trust each other. 

CONFIDENCE DETHRONES SUSPICION. 

There is no doubt that until quite recently Latin America has been 
suspicious of the United States. Our power has been feared and our 

Eurposes have been distrusted. Rivals of the United States for 
la tin-American trade have skilKully fed this suspicion, which was 
greatly augmented by the unfortunate incident with Colombia grow- 
ing out of the Panama Canal affair. That produced a very unhappy 
impression and has been very prejudicial to our standing in Latin 
America. It v/ould, in fact, be extremely hurtful if it was not for 
the belief now generally entertained in South and Central America 
that the pending treaty between the United States and Colombia 
will be ratified iiltimately and that Colombia will be justly compen- 
sated for the injury she has sustained. For my part I earnestly hope 
for this result. This great Nation must always be the exemplar and 
champion of justice and fair dealing. We must be scrupulously fair, 
even to the extent of generosity, in our relations with weaker nations. 
We must accord them in fullest measure what wo would unhesitat- 
ingly exact of any power for ourselves. 

The pohcies of the President during the last two years, as outlined 
in his public speeches and his messages to the Congress, have largely 
counteracted these unfortunate influences and have produced a pro- 
found and favorable impression in South and Central America. Our 
acceptance of the tender of friendly offices by some of the South 
American States in delicate matters of diplomacy estabhshed a new 
precedent and showed our appreciation of their friendship and of 
their importance in the family of nations. But the thing which has 
done most to destroy suspicion and to create confidence was the 
President's recent suggestion to all the Governments of Central and 
South America of the willingness of the United States to enter into 
treaties with them for mutual guaranties of territorial integrity and 
pohtical independence. This is in effect an enlargement of the 
Monroe doctrine, because it offers to our southern neighbors assur- 
ances against aggression on the part of the United States in addition 
to the protection they already have, under the Monroe doctrine, 
against the extension of European systems of government to any part 
ot the American Continent. It is a noble expression of the unselfish 
purpose of the United States to maintain the principles of true 
democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. With the terri- 
torial integrity and political independence of every American State 
secured against European interference, against aggression by the 
United States, and against aggression as between themselves, _a 
glorious opportunity will be presented for the development of their 
resources and the growth of their civilization under the fructifying 
influences of established peace and friendship. 



SOME IFTERFATIONAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATIOIT. 5 

EDUCATION A PARAMOUNT FACTOR. 

After these really splendid achievements what else remains to be 
done ? The promotion of a better understanding between the peoples 
themselves of the several American States is "the next ^Teat step. 
Transportation, communication, and trade relations are invaluable 
and indispensable agencies, but education is a paramount factor. The 
Treasury Department, with its varied and important activities, is in 
itseK a kmd of university extensions system, and as Secretary of the 
Treasury I am obliged to be something of a schoolmaster myself. So 
I have a sympathetic comprehension of the problems with which you 
have to deal and of the profound importance of the work you are 
doing in shaping and training the materiel on which the usefulness 
and permanency of democratic institutions must rest not only in the 
United States but tliroughout the Americas. The public-school 
system is the very foundation of an intelligent and enlightened 
democracy. 

There is probably no school system in the world which is subjected 
to such constant and searching analysis and criticism as that of the 
United States. This is due not so much to the defects of the system 
as to the fact that under our plan of school administration it is the 
public opinion of the community which finally determines the 
organization, the purposes, and the trend of the educational system. 
While this has been the source of some weakness, it has liad the great 
advantage of keeping the standards of public instruction in relatively 
close touch with national needs. In order that our educational 
system may perform its high mission, it is necessary that it should 
reflect every change in our national life, meeting every new need as 
soon as it arises. 

V/e are at the present moment going through one of those evohi- 
tionary changes whicii fundamentally affect our international rela- 
tions and involve a lieavy obligation on the common-school system of 
our country. 

NEGLECT OF LATIN AMERICA IN THE CURRICULUM OF OUR SCBOOLS. 

Wliat L learned in South America impressed me deeply with the 
grave disadvantages accruing to our national life and to our inter- 
national relations because of our widespread ignorance not only of 
the history but of the significance of the profound changes that have 
been taking place in the countries of South and Central America 
during the last 50 years and of the importance of the civilization that 
is developing in that section of the American continent. I do not 
mean to criticize, but simply to record a fact, when I say that the 
public schools of the United States have not contributed their fidi 
share toward inculcating in the youth of the country a proper under- 
standing of the political, economic, and social development of our 
sister Republics. It is this lack of understanding that has prevented 
the growth of a sufficiently enlightened public opinion in the United 
States with reference to Latin-American affairs. It is this absence 
of sympathetic comprehension that makes it so easy to mislead pubfic 
opinion in the United States and so often to cause unwitting mjury 
to our Latin-American relations. 



6 SOME INTEENATIONAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

American history is taught as if it begins and ends with the history 
of the United States; American geography is interpreted as if it 
were the geography of the United States. In the study of com- 
merce and" industry the provincial view is too frequently taken that 
Latin America is merely a sort of supply of raw material for the 
United States. It is no wonder that the average boy and girl are 
inclined to look upon the vast territories to the south of us as a 
wilderness, the seat of a backward civilization and peopled by a 
backward race. 

INSPIRING DEVELOPMENT OF INDEPENDENT NATIONS. 

I am sure that it is not necessary for me to burden you v/ith argu- 
ments emphasizing the desirability of acquainting the youth of the 
country with the economic, political, and social conditions of the 
continent on vv^hich they live ; but I do wish to point out the great 
national service that ca \ be performed in making our young men and 
women better acqiuiinted with the history, the literature, and the 
important cultural elem_ents that enter into the great civilization 
that is developing in Latin America. Our present lack of under- 
standing is a source of national weakness because it is a real obstacle 
to the development of that spirit of international cooperation ^yithout 
which we can not hope to develop that genuine Pan Americanism for 
which we are all laboring and toward which we are making real 
progress. 

llie history of the Spanish-American struggle for independence is 
a most inspiring record. The obstacles that the North American 
colonies had to overcome were not so formidable as those which 
confronted the revolted Spanish colonies. The decades inimediately 
succeeding the first movement for independence present, in the face 
of almost overwhelming discouragements, a record _ of devotion, 
salf-sacrifice, and unswerving faith in the ultimate triinuph of free 
institutions which compel the deepest respect and admiration. The 
story of this struggle, if properly presented and interpreted, would 
mean much to the youth of our country. It would make them appre- 
ciate the similarity of ideals which dominated the founders of the 
pohtical system of the United States and the leaders of Latin- 
American independence, and would serve to develop a sympathetic 
understanding of the political life and institutions of these countries. 
We are apt to think of Central and South America as a whole, without 
any appreciation of the fact that each country has passed through a 
different process, and that the history of the nineteenth century is a 
history of adaptation of political institutions to the_ economic, racial, 
and social environment peculiar to each, resulting in great diversity 
in form of government and in diversity no less striking in the operation 
of political institutions. 

During the last century the American Continent has been the great 
laboratory of pohtical evolution, furnishing a body of material to the 
teacher of history and civics which we have hardly begun to utilize. 

COMPULSORY TEACHING OF SPANISH. 

The development of tSiat true spirit of continental sohdarity with 
the peoples of Central and South America for which we are striving 
would be set forward immeasurably if we would give more attention 



SOME IKTERNATIOITAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 7 

to their language and literature. The teaching of Spanish should be 
made compulsory in our public schools; in fact, a resolution was 
unanimously adopted by the International High Commission at 
Buenos Aires recommending to each Government that in all schools 
supported by public funds or aided in any way by public funds the 
study of Enghsh, Spanish, and Portuguese should be obligatory. It 
is astonishing that so few people in our country, relatively speaking, 
imderstand that in the most populous Eepublic in South America^ 
Brazil — the language is Portuguese and not Spanish. We do not 
pay enough attention to the study of Spanish in our schools, while, 
on the other hand, English is taught to a very large extent in the 
schools of South America. 

At the present time we rarely think of citing Latin American pub- 
licists and scientists. Practically no reference is ever made to 
Latin American literature. We pay little attention to the cur- 
rents of thought of Central or South America ; unmindful of the fact 
that important contributions have been made and are constantly 
being made in every department of literary and scientific effort. I 
would not for a moment disparage the study of French or German, 
nor belittle the treasures which a knowledge of these languages 
unfolds, but I do wish to submit to you the desirability of acquaint- 
ing our youth with the intellectual effort and the intellectual achieve- 
ment of the American Continent. 

THE METRIC SYSTEM. 

I also wish to make a plea for closer cooperation between the 
Republics of the American Continent in matters affecting the ordi- 
nary transactions of daily life. From a great number of possible 
contributions to this end the question of uniformity in standards 
of weights and measures is of the utmost importance. I doubt 
whether any of us fully appreciate the extent to which diversity of 
standards, as in other matters, represents a barrier to closer inter- 
national cooperation. The metric system has been universally 
accepted throughout Latin America. Acceptance of this system in 
the United States, if it ever comes, will depend in large measure on 
the growth of a body of opinion favorable to the system developed 
in the public schools of the country. But whether we adopt it or 
not we should study it more eft'ectively in our public schools, because 
our relations with Latin America will constantly increase and we must 
equip our youths to meet their responsibilities in these new fields 
with credit to themselves and honor to their country. 

THE OPPOETU:aTY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

I have welcomed the opportunity to lay these, matters before you 
because their importance was constantly impressed upon me in con- 
nection with the work of the International High Commission. That 
great body was created by the 21 American Republics for the 
express purpose of removing the obstacles to closer financial and 
commercial cooperation and larger intercourse between the Repubhcs 
of America. Every thoughtful person must recognize the fact that 
the public schools can contribute effectively toward the accom- 
pHshment of this desirable end. It is largely a matter of education. 



l_J.DI^nrv I 




8 SOME IN TEE NATIONAL ASPECTS OF PUBLIC 

015 843 072 

Upon you, men and women of the National Eu.i^v.<xuiuii xxsaucia- 
tion, rests the ultimate responsibility of making effective the policy 
of Pan Americanism formulated by our President in a series of 
addresses which have resounded throughout the entire Western 
Hemisphere; upon you rests the task of developing in the youth of 
the country a broader understanding of the forces that have shaped 
American history, a keener appreciation of the significance of the 
development of free institutions on the American Continent, and a 
deeper sympathy with the aspirations of sister nations who, like 
ourselves, are endeavoring to translate into realities the ideals of 
American democracy. 

o 



